എന്താണ് Ethereum?
ഞങ്ങളുടെ ഡിജിറ്റൽ ഭാവിയുടെ അടിസ്ഥാനം
Summary
Ethereum is a technology for building apps and organizations, holding assets, transacting and communicating without being controlled by a central authority. There is no need to hand over all your personal details to use Ethereum - you keep control of your own data and what is being shared. Ethereum has its own cryptocurrency, Ether, which is used to pay for certain activities on the Ethereum network.
Still confused? Let's explain everything step-by-step.
What is a cryptocurrency?
Crypto (short for cryptocurrency) is a new form of digital money powered by cryptography.
It all started in 2008 with Bitcoin. You could use it to send funds to anyone anywhere globally. What made crypto different from normal bank transfers or other financial services like Paypal or Alipay is that there was no middle man for the first time.
Wait, what is a middle man?
A middle-man is a central authority like a bank or government that intervenes in a transaction between the sender and recipient. They have the power to surveill, censor or revert transactions and they can share the sensitive data they collect about you with third parties. They also often dictate which financial services you have access to.
Things are different with crypto. Transactions directly connect sender and recipient without having to deal with any central authority. Nobody else will have access to your funds and nobody can tell you what services you can use. This is possible because of the blockchain technology upon which cryptocurrencies operate.
A blockchain is a database of transactions that is updated and shared across many computers in a network. Every time a new set of transactions is added, its called a “block” - hence the name blockchain. Most blockchains are public, and you can only add data, not remove. If someone wanted to alter any of the information or cheat the system, they’d need to do so on the majority of computers on the network. That is a lot! This makes established blockchains like Ethereum highly secure.
What is the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin?
Launched in 2015, Ethereum builds on Bitcoin's innovation, with some big differences.
Both let you use digital money without payment providers or banks. But Ethereum is programmable, so you can also build and deploy decentralized applications on its network.
Ethereum being programmable means that you can build apps that use the blockchain to store data or control what your app can do. This results in a general purpose blockchain that can be programmed to do anything. As there is no limit to what Ethereum can do, it allows for great innovation to happen on the Ethereum network.
While Bitcoin is only a payment network, Ethereum is more like a marketplace of financial services, games, social networks and other apps that respect your privacy and cannot censor you.
What can Ethereum do?
എല്ലാവർക്കും ബാങ്കിംഗ്
എല്ലാവർക്കും സാമ്പത്തിക സേവനങ്ങളിലേക്ക് പ്രവേശനമില്ല. എന്നാൽ നിങ്ങൾക്ക് Ethereumഉം അതിന്റെ വായ്‌പ കൊടുക്കല്‍, കടം വാങ്ങൽ, സമ്പാദ്യ ഉൽ‌പ്പന്നങ്ങൾ എന്നിവ ആക്‌സസ് ചെയ്യാന്‍ വേണ്ടത് ഒരു ഇൻറർ‌നെറ്റ് കണക്ഷനാണ്.
കൂടുതൽ സ്വകാര്യ ഇന്റർനെറ്റ്
ഒരു Ethereum ആപ്പ് ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നതിന് നിങ്ങളുടെ എല്ലാ സ്വകാര്യ വിശദാംശങ്ങളും നൽകേണ്ടതില്ല. നിരീക്ഷണമല്ല, മൂല്യത്തെ അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കിയുള്ള ഒരു സമ്പദ്‌വ്യവസ്ഥ കെട്ടിപ്പടുക്കുകയാണ് Ethereum.
ഒരു പിയർ-ടു-പിയർ നെറ്റ്‌വർക്ക്
മറ്റൊരാളുമായി നേരിട്ട് പണം നീക്കാനോ കരാറുകൾ ഉണ്ടാക്കാനോ Ethereum നിങ്ങളെ അനുവദിക്കുന്നു. നിങ്ങൾ ഇടനില കമ്പനികളിലൂടെ പോകേണ്ടതില്ല.
സെൻസർഷിപ്പ് പ്രതിരോധം
ഒരു സർക്കാരിനോ കമ്പനിയ്ക്കോ Ethereumന്റെ നിയന്ത്രണം ഇല്ല. ഈ വികേന്ദ്രീകരണം പേയ്‌മെന്റുകൾ സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നതിൽ നിന്നോ Ethereumൽ സേവനങ്ങൾ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നതിൽ നിന്നോ നിങ്ങളെ തടയുന്നത് ആർക്കും അസാധ്യമാക്കുന്നു.
വാണിജ്യ ഉറപ്പുകള്‍
Ethereum കൂടുതൽ ലെവൽ കളിക്കളം സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നു. നിങ്ങൾ സമ്മതിച്ചവ നൽകിയാൽ മാത്രമേ ഫണ്ടുകൾ കൈ മാറുകയുള്ളൂ എന്ന് ഉപയോക്താക്കൾക്ക് സുരക്ഷിതവും അന്തർനിർമ്മിതവുമായ ഗ്യാരണ്ടി ഉണ്ട്. ബിസിനസ്സ് ചെയ്യുന്നതിന് നിങ്ങൾക്ക് വലിയ കമ്പനി സ്വാധീനം ആവശ്യമില്ല.
All products are composable
Since all apps are built on the same blockchain with a shared global state, they can build off each other (like legos). This allows for better products and experiences being built all the time.
Ethereum in numbers
Why would I use Ethereum?
If you’ve ever sent money overseas (or plan to), or had to worry about the future of your assets due to external forces outside of your control where you live, or been fed up by the numerous restrictions and fees imposed by traditional financial institutions for everyday transactions, you might be interested in what cryptocurrencies have to offer.
Bear in mind that Ethereum is a story that is still being written, and many more reasons to use it are being uncovered as it evolves and develops over time.
Cheaper and Faster Crossborder Payments
Stablecoins are a novel type of cryptocurrency that relies on a more stable asset as the basis for its value. Most of them are linked to the United States dollar and therefore maintain the value of that currency. These allow for a very cheap and stable global payment system. Many current stablecoins are built on the Ethereum network.
Ethereum and stablecoins simplify the process of sending money overseas. It often takes only few minutes to move funds across the globe, as opposed to the several business days or even weeks that it may take your average bank, and for a fraction of the price. Additionally, there is no extra fee for making a high value transaction, and there are zero restrictions on where or why you are sending your money.
The Quickest Help in Times of Crisis
If you are lucky enough to have multiple banking options through trusted institutions where you live, you may take for granted the financial freedom, security and stability that they offer. But for many people around the world facing political repression or economic hardship, financial institutions may not provide the protection or services they need.
When war, economic catastrophes or crackdowns on civil liberties struck the residents of Venezuela, Cuba, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Belarus, and Ukraine, cryptocurrencies constituted the quickest and often the only option to retain financial agency.1 As seen in these examples, cryptocurrencies like Ethereum can provide unfettered access to the global economy when people are cut off from the outside world. Additionally, stablecoins offer a store of value when local currencies are collapsing due to superinflation.
Empowering Creators
In 2021 alone, artists, musicians, writers, and other creators used Ethereum to earn around $3.5 billion collectively. This makes Ethereum one of the largest global platforms for creators, alongside Spotify, YouTube, and Etsy. Learn more.
Empowering Gamers
Play to earn games (where players are actually rewarded for playing the games) have recently emerged and are transforming the gaming industry. Traditionally, it is often prohibited to trade or transfer in-game assets to other players for real money. This forces players to use black market websites that are often a security risk. Blockchain gaming embraces the in-game economy and promotes such behavior in a trusted manner.
Moreover, players are incentivized by being able to trade in-game tokens for real money and thus being truly rewarded for their play time.
Meet ether, Ethereum's cryptocurrency
Ethereum has a native cryptocurrency called ether (ETH). It is purely digital, and you can send it to anyone anywhere in the world instantly. The supply of ETH isn’t controlled by any government or company - it is decentralized and completely transparent. New coins (also commonly called tokens) are created only by miners and stakers who maintain the network.
Every action on the Ethereum network requires a certain amount of computational power. This fee is paid in the form of ether. This means you need at least a small amount of ETH to use the network.
What can I do with ETH coins?
Turns out: a lot of things! One of the most prominent usages of the Ethereum technology is decentralized finance (DeFi) that opens entire areas of banking services to anybody with an internet connection. You can use your ether as a collateral to take out loans or provide liquidity to earn interest on your funds.
Who runs Ethereum?
Ethereum is not controlled by any one entity. It exists solely through the decentralized participation and cooperation of the community. Ethereum makes use of nodes (a computer with a copy of the Ethereum blockchain data) run by volunteers to replace individual server and cloud systems owned by major internet providers and services.
These distributed nodes, run by individuals and businesses all over the world, provide resiliency to the Ethereum network infrastructure. It is therefore much less vulnerable to hacks or shutdowns. Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has never suffered downtime. There are thousands of individual nodes running Ethereum network. This makes Ethereum one of the most decentralized cryptocurrencies out there, second only to bitcoin.
What are smart contracts?
Smart contracts are simply computer programs living on the Ethereum blockchain. They only execute when triggered by a transaction from a user (or another contract). They make Ethereum very flexible in what it can do and distinguish it from other cryptocurrencies. These programs are what we now call decentralized apps, or dapps.
Have you ever used a product that changed its terms of service? Or removed a feature you found useful? Once a smart contract is published to Ethereum, it will be online and operational for as long as Ethereum exists. Not even the author can take it down. Since smart contracts are automated, they do not discriminate against any user and are always ready to use.
Popular examples of smart contracts are lending apps, decentralized trading exchanges, insurance, crowdfunding apps - basically anything you can think of.
I heard crypto is being used as a tool for criminal activity. Is this true?
Like any form of money, some of it will be misused. However, because all Ethereum transactions happen on an open blockchain, it’s often easier for authorities to track illicit activity than it would be in the traditional financial system, arguably making Ethereum a less appealing choice for those who would rather go undetected.
Crypto is used much less than fiat currencies for criminal purposes according to the key findings of a recent report by Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation:
“The use of cryptocurrencies for illicit activities seems to comprise only a small part of the overall cryptocurrency economy, and it appears to be comparatively smaller than the amount of illicit funds involved in traditional finance.”
What about Ethereum's energy consumption?
Ethereum is currently using proof-of-work mechanism that consumes a large amount of energy. In the coming months (Q3/Q4 2022) Ethereum will undergo its biggest update yet and will switch to proof of stake mechanism which will greatly reduce the environmental impact it has.
This update will reduce the energy required to secure Ethereum by about 99.95%, creating a more secure network for a much smaller carbon cost. This will make Ethereum a truly low-carbon blockchain while boosting its security and scalability.
Additional reading
Week in Ethereum News - A weekly newsletter covering key developments across the ecosystem.
The Year in Ethereum 2021 Jan 17, 2022 - Josh Stark and Evan Van Ness
Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains - Why blockchains matter?
Ethereum പര്യവേക്ഷണം ചെയ്യുക
Ethereum ഉപയോഗിച്ച് എന്തെങ്കിലും ഉണ്ടാക്കുക
Ethereum ഉപയോഗിച്ച് നിർമ്മിക്കാൻ ശ്രമിക്കണമെങ്കിൽ, ഞങ്ങളുടെ പ്രമാണങ്ങള്‍ വായിക്കുക, ചില ട്യൂട്ടോറിയലുകൾ പരീക്ഷിക്കുക, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ആരംഭിക്കാൻ ആവശ്യമായ ഉപകരണങ്ങൾ പരിശോധിക്കുക.
Ethereum കമ്മ്യൂണിറ്റി
ആർട്ടിസ്റ്റുകൾ, ക്രിപ്റ്റോ-അരാജകവാദികൾ, ഫോർച്യൂൺ 500 കമ്പനികൾ, ഇപ്പോൾ നിങ്ങൾ എന്നിവരുൾപ്പെടെ എല്ലാ പശ്ചാത്തലത്തിലുള്ള ആളുകളും ഞങ്ങളുടെ കമ്മ്യൂണിറ്റിയിൽ ഉൾപ്പെടുന്നു. ഇന്ന് നിങ്ങൾക്ക് എങ്ങനെ ഇടപെടാമെന്ന് കണ്ടെത്തുക.